Don't Stand So Close to Me
by FantysmalAdorations
Summary: Magnus Bane, a shy lonely high school student, has a crush on his incredibly debonair biology teacher. Said ruggedly handsome teacher is struggling as a single parent of two boys to make ends meat. Tensions run high when Magnus' feelings are harder to handle. Especially when Mr. Lightwood is so easy to fantasize about. OOC Human AU
1. Chapter 1

Magnus was standing in front of his locker, holding four books in one hand and trying to open the lock with the other. He always hated the first day of school. It was full of new students giving him dirty looks, teachers getting angry that he shows up late, and lots of 'get to know your classmates' games. Those games were never fun for someone who was shy like him. His mother keeps telling him to open up to people and make new friends, but he never has the courage to say anything to anyone. Usually people see his bright colored clothes and avoid him like the plague. Of course, he only dresses like this because his mother suggests that it sends out the message that he's gay and it might 'attract him a boyfriend' or something like that. His mother is always trying to set him up on dates and get him boyfriends. It never works, though. They all get frustrated that he is too shy and doesn't put out. Although, he has gotten many compliments from his so called suitors that he has a nice body. He didn't think so, but if they chose to think so, so be it.

Magnus tried opening his locker for the third time without any success. Someone rushing down the hallway was shoved into him, causing him to drop all of his books. Without helping him pick them up, the rude student continued to run down the hallway. Magnus kneeled down, picking up the books and stood once more. He twisted the lock again. Twenty to the right. Five to the left. Twelve to the right. Finally, his locker clicked open, and he sighed in relief. Trying to beat the warning bell, he shoved the books into his locker and slammed it shut. He rushed down the hallway, keeping his head down, and made his way to first hour. This year he had Advanced Biology as his first class. Last year's teacher retired at a ripe age of seventy-two. Supposedly, the school had hired a new teacher fresh out of college. Usually that meant a lot of homework or a lot of doing absolutely nothing. Either way, Magnus knew he would not like this class.

The late bell rang, proclaiming that every student in the hall or bathroom is late. Magnus speeds up, seeing the door to his classroom still open at the end of the hall on the right. He makes it into the room, seeing a large group of students talking and chatting. Yet, there was no teacher to be found. Relaxing at this, Magnus took a seat in the front row. He took a quick glance around the room to see no one he knew. Usually he had classes with Camille, a spunky tall blonde girl who is his best friend, but she was placed in Advanced Chemistry instead of Advanced Biology.

Suddenly, the door slammed shut and all of the chatter ceased. A tall man with black hair and pale skin was standing directly in front of the closed door with a cheap black cell phone in his hand. It appeared that he had shut the door haphazardly as he was in a rush to get to class, but he got distracted by his phone and stopped short. He quickly put the phone away and looked up at the class. He had a 5 o'clock shadow of a thick beard as if he hadn't had time to shave that morning. His eyes scanned the students, their bright blue color making every student stare directly back at him.

"Wow," he said in a deep, smooth voice, "This is a pretty big class." He walked over to his desk and sat down on top of it, his legs dangling off the front. "Sorry I'm late. When you have two uncooperative children under the age of five and three, it becomes quite difficult to do anything on time." He grabbed a clipboard from behind him on the desk and picked up a pencil out of the black coffee mug that held multiple writing utensils. "Let's start by taking attendance, then we'll get going with the good stuff."

Magnus' eyes were glued to the man as he called attendance. His button up shirt was a steel green color that complimented his black slacks perfectly. His hair looked slightly disheveled, but in a very attractive way. His voice gave Magnus shivers, but it was delicious. Magnus' mind sped a thousand miles an hour as he tried to take in every detail of his new teacher.

"Magnus Bane," the attractive man called.

Magnus raised his hand shyly, not wanting his teacher to scrutinize him. The man looked up, his eyes instantly landing on Magnus. He smiled, "There you are," he said before going on with the list of students. Magnus couldn't help the small butterflies that shuddered through his stomach when the man smiled at him. His teeth were perfectly white and straight. Magnus could not find a single flaw.

Once the attendance was taken, the teacher stood up and walked over to the white board. He picked up a red dry erase marker and took off the cap. "I would like to introduce myself. I'm Mr. Lightwood," he said, writing it on the board. "I'm not going to be tolerant of any excessive talking or any rough play. This goes double for lab days. I try not to assign homework, but if your class is particularly disobedient, homework will be due the next day." He turned back towards the class, capping the marker and putting it down in the tray beneath the board. "I'm not very good with names," he said with an apologetic smile, "So, you will probably have to give me a little time to remember all of yours." He walked forward, standing in front of his desk and holding his hands behind his back. Of course, all Magnus noticed was how well his muscles looked under his snug green shirt.

"I look forward to having a good first year as a teacher, and I hope you don't disappoint me," he joked. "Now, I know it's the first day back to school from a long summer vacation, so I'm not going to even think about starting this biology class. Instead," he said clapping his hands together, "I would like to take this next," he glanced at his watch, "forty-five minutes to answer any possible question you might have about myself, the subject, or any other possible thing you think I might be able to answer."

Immediately, Magnus saw a girl to his left raise her hand high up in the air. Mr. Lightwood gestured for her to speak.

"Are we going to have a seating chart this year?"

"There is a possibility. It depends on how well the class behaves. The better you behave, the more fun and freedom you can have."

Another student raised his hand at the back of the class. "Mr. Lightwood, when we do labs, will we work in groups or independently?"

Mr. Lightwood sat on top of his desk again and looked down at his hands for a moment before looking back up, "You know, I think that it will usually be in pairs, but I will assign the pairs myself."

Magnus was relieved to hear that. Whenever there was a school project in which he had to work in a group, he could never find anyone to work with him. He was always the awkward third wheel so to speak in a group. Magnus looked up as soon as Mr. Lightwood had sneezed. It was a loud, volcanic-esque sneeze, but the look on his face was positively adorable. Magnus blushed at the thought, putting his hands under his desk and picking at his already chipped nail polish.

"Excuse me," he said, grabbing a tissue off of his desk and wiping at his nose. He tossed the tissue into the trash can before looking back up. "Any more questions?" he asked.

When no one had a question Mr. Lightwood smiled. "Well, I don't want to waste any time. Why don't we play a little game? Let's just go around the room and say a little something about ourselves. I'll start," he said with a small excitement. Magnus swooned at how adorable he was when he smiled. "I'm twenty four years old, fresh out of the state university. I am a single father to two fantastic boys named Rafael and Max. Rafel is five years old, and Max is three years one month. I listen to a lot of classic rock music, and I have three siblings."

The classroom was completely silent. One brave girl raised her hand, ready to ask the question that was on everyone's mind.

"Yes?" Mr. Lightwood asked.

"How do you already have two kids if you're twenty four?" she asked, her voice sounding slightly disgusted.

Mr. Lightwood laughed. The melodious sound vibrated through Magnus' ears in the most pleasurable way before Mr. Lightwood continued, "It's a long story. Filled with many stupid mistakes."

"What happened to the mother? Is she still with you?" Another snobby girl asked.

Magnus was completely taken aback by their rude and blunt questions. However, he was also incredibly interested in hearing everything about Mr. Lightwood. He was too enticing not to care.

"Max is adopted, but Rafael's mother is a girl I met in high school. We dated for a while, and we were thinking about getting engaged. She got pregnant, but didn't want the baby. She said that she wanted to get an abortion, but instead I promised that I would raise the child. She had the baby, signed all of the custody over to me, then never spoke to me again," he sounded a little bitter towards the end and his eyes became a dark midnight blue that made Magnus quiver, but then he perked up with a smile, "But now I have my wonderful children whom I will brag on constantly."

Magnus was amazed. Everything Mr. Lightwood said, and did, was intriguing and alluring. From his deep honey voice to his constant removal of fuzz from his clothing. He was just absolutely attractive to Magnus.

"Now, who would like to go next and share something about themselves?" When no one answered, he picked up the attendance sheet. "If no one volunteers, I will choose a name from the list." Still no one raised their hand or spoke up. "Okay," Mr. Lightwood said, his bright blue eyes scanning down the page. "Magnus Bane, tell us about yourself."

Magnus' heart skipped a beat. This was just his luck. He didn't like speaking in front of people, much less his very good-looking teacher. "Uh..." he said, his stomach doing gymnastics moves as he nervously sat up straighter and tapped his desk. He didn't want to look stupid in front of his teacher, but he really didn't know what to say about himself. His nerves made his fingers twitch as he tapped.

"Why don't you come up here in front of the class?"

He slowly rose out of his chair and walked timidly towards the front of the class. He heard a few snickers from the jocks in the back row, but he tried to ignore them. He stood in front of Mr. Lightwood's desk, slouching with one knee bent and his head down. He stared intently at the ground, picking at his fingernail polish. "I'm Magnus," he said quietly, hating the way he had a slight lisp. Of course, no one would notice it unless he pointed it out, but to him it was as clear as day. "I speak Dutch. I have a cat, and I'm gay," he said, his voice fading out more and more as he reached the end of the sentence. He didn't know why he said the things he did. Most people knew he was gay from previous years, and if they didn't, they should have been able to tell by the way he dressed. He already had a slight Netherland accent, so he assumed people would be able to recognize that. Also, he posts pictures of his cat on his Facebook account, so anyone who was friends with him should see that.

Magnus nervously looked up to Mr. Lightwood who had moved to stand to his right.

"Very good, Magnus. You may take your seat now," Mr. Lightwood said with a generous smile before he called the next student to go up.

Magnus scurried back to his chair, feeling his face heat up. He never looked up at any of the students while he was talking, but he knew what kind of looks they would be giving him. He had seen them all before. He didn't really care, though. He wasn't particularly concerned with what other people thought of him. He just wanted to be himself and not pretend to be someone else. He supposed that's why he only had one friend.

Speaking of Camille, many people though she and Magnus were dating. They always sit together and laugh, sometimes hold hands. They just happen to be really close. In the eighth grade, Magnus came out to Camille, who immediately told him she was also gay. This only brought their friendship closer. Magnus' mom then allowed Camille to spend the night, and Magnus could spend the night at her house as well. They began spending almost all of their time together. Over the past year, though, Camille began dating this girl named Maia. So most Friday nights, Magnus was left at home watching eighties movies on the LOGO channel with his mother. Magnus happened to like Maia, but he didn't like Camille ditching him so often. Sometimes she even canceled plans they had already made just because Maia wanted to do something. Of course, sometimes they invited him to do things with them like go to the movies and theme parks, but he always felt like the awkward third wheel. He would always have to sit behind them on the roller coasters and at the movies he would just sit there while they kissed or cuddled.

Magnus looked up as he recognized a short girl with dyed pink hair walk to the front of the class. Her name was Seelie Fell. She dressed in lots of sparkles and color, radiating arrogance. The only way Magnus recognized her was because of her brother Ragnor Fell. Ragnor has been a long time crush for Magnus. He's slightly muscled with silver hair and bright blue eyes. However, Ragnor is not the type for relationships. He is what Magnus' soap opera would call a 'lone wolf.' He has never had a relationship last more than a week. Even knowing all of this, Magnus still dreams of being the one he settles down with.

Seelie stood in front of the class, her small pointed nose held haughtily in the air. "I'm Seelie. I drive a purple Mustang convertible. I am a cheerleader, and I am great in the sack."

"Inappropriate," Mr. Lightwood said, crossing his arms over his broad chest and scolding her. "Go sit down," he said firmly, but Magnus saw the blush on his cheeks. It was amazing, and to be quite honest, it turned Magnus on a little… Okay a lot. Not to mention the dominant tone in his voice, making his heart skip a beat. His powerful eyes sent shivers down his body and made him shift uncomfortably in his chair. He could feel his face heat up as his mind pictured Mr. Lightwood speaking to him in that tone.

"Okay, next up to tell us about herself is Harmony Blackwell." A tall thin girl went to the front of the class and told everyone about her obsession with Downton Abbey and her collection of My Chemical Romance memorabilia.

Magnus couldn't pay attention though. All he could think about was how he would like to do something to upset Mr. Lightwood so he would talk to him in that sexy voice. He could never do it, though. The worst thing he had ever said out loud was 'shit,' and that was only because he was trying to say shift and sit at the same time. After that, his mother made him sit with a bar of soap in his mouth for five minutes.

After the last student sat down, Mr. Lightwood took his seat back on the top of his desk. "Well, now that I know a little bit about each of you, I think we will have a pretty good year together. I plan to do one lab, two lessons, and two bookwork days each week. I think that we can get the bookwork done in one day usually, so every Friday will be a sort of catch up day if you happen to miss. I'll play some music and we can just sit around and talk."

"What kind of music?" A boy dressed in baggy pants and a red Tap Out shirt asked.

"Classic rock," Mr. Lightwood replied instantly. "If anyone complains, I will play my sons' Kidz Bop CDs."

"No rap?" the boy asked.

"If it is clean rap, and I approve it first, then maybe."

"What about pop music?" Seelie asked.

Mr. Lightwood made a 'are you kidding me?' face. Magnus couldn't help but notice how adorable he looked with his eyebrows drawn together. "No pop music will be played in my room."

"But what if it's the good stuff? Like Katy Perry?" she asked.

"I will not be playing any pop music." Mr. Lightwood squinted at the bell schedule on the wall, trying to see what it said. He then checked his watch. "We only have about two minutes left, so you can talk amongst yourselves."

Magnus watched as Mr. Lightwood pulled out his cell phone and began to text. He smiled down at his phone before putting it back into his pocket. When he looked up, Magnus made sure to look down so as not to be caught staring. The rest of the class seemed to be talking and catching up, but since Magnus didn't really know anyone well enough to talk to them, he remained silent. He stared intently down at his desk, hoping these two minutes would go by quickly.

A few of the girls behind him were giggling and talking about who one of them kissed over the summer, while the boys to his left were discussing what football teams were supposed to be good this year. Magnus started picking at his finger nail polish, chipping small yellow chips onto the desk. He was trying to block out all of the other conversations, not caring about what they were saying.

The bell rang, and Magnus was thankful that he could get away from his embarrassingly dirty thoughts about his teacher.

Quickly making his way to his locker and avoiding all of the nudgy elbows, Magnus breathed a sigh of relief. Mr. Lightwood made him so nervous. Undoubtedly his new teacher was the most attractive man Magnus had ever seen, but the way he wore shaggy hair so well had to be a crime. No one is allowed to look that sexy.

Blushing at the thought, Magnus tossed his book into his locker and made his way to his second period class; Advanced Literature. Luckily, he saw his spunky best friend Camille sitting in the back corner of the room checking her makeup in a compact mirror. He joined her in a matter of seconds, using their code word for a new crush, "Commander." They had agreed to use that word in the seventh grade when Magnus didn't want to say that he had a crush out loud. Back then, he wasn't as confident with his sexuality. Neither was Camille, so it worked in their favor.

"Who?" Camille asked, his blonde curls falling delicately around her heart shaped face.

Magnus blushed, barely visible under his deep caramel skin, but Camille was so close she could feel it more than see it. "My new advanced biology teacher."

Camille blanched, her manicured eyebrows bouncing in shock, "No way, Maggie," she said incredulously, using her silly nickname. "What's he look like?" she asked quietly, being sure that no one around was eavesdropping on their conversation.

"Dreamy," Magnus said before he could stop himself. He covered his face with his hand, embarrassed that he had let that slip. "I mean, uh, he's got really dark hair, but vibrant blue eyes. And he was wearing this shirt that made it obvious that he works out."

"Oh my god!" Camille whisper shouted. "Point him out to me in the hallway. I've got to see him. How old is he?"

"Twenty four," Magnus said, even though he was distracted by Mr. Lightwood's stunning good looks, he still remembered every word that the man uttered.

Camille smiled devilishly, "Is he gay? Because that's totally worth the shot. It's kind of hot actually. A teacher student relationship. You'd have to be super secretive, but that just makes it hotter."

Ignoring most of what his crude friend said, Magnus frowned, "I don't think he's gay. He has two kids."

"Two? At twenty four years old? Can you say slut?" she said, her head bobbing with emphasis.

"Only one is biologically his," Magnus said, feeling a strange need to defend the integrity of his newfound love interest.

"So is he married?"

"Nope," Magnus said, smiling shyly as Camille waggled her eyebrows.

"Maggie, honey, if anyone could turn a man gay it would be you."

Magnus rolled his eyes and blushed again, "Let's be realistic, though, Cam. He could be put in jail if we did anything. That's like pedophilia, isn't it?" Magnus asked, despite how attracted to his teacher he was, he knew that nothing could ever happen between them. That didn't stop him from crushing, though.

"If no one found out, I don't see the problem," Camille said. Like always, she was the bad influence your parents always warned you of. She was the one that 'jumps off a bridge', and pressures you into doing drugs. Luckily for Magnus, she neither cared for heights or had the money or connections for drugs.

Magnus gave his best friend a disapproving look.

"Fine, no illegal sex acts for Mr. Innocent Pants, but you have to admit it makes a great fantasy."

Magnus' eyes glazed over for a second as he half heartedly agreed out loud. Instantly his mind rushed to the thought of unbuttoning that steel green shirt with his teeth and seeing Mr. Lightwood's pale chest that undoubtedly matched his pale face and hands.

"Calm down boy," Camille said with a chuckle, "You don't want to get a boner in lit class. People might think you have a weird affection for Shakespeare."

Magnus blushed again, realizing that he had probably been making his 'I want sex' face that Camille knew all too well. Even though he was a virgin, Magnus often expressed his frustrations to his sexually active side kick. Most of the time, she would reply with, 'sucks to not be sucked,' or 'fiddle your own diddle,' but today she replied a little kinder. Just a little though. After all, she was still Camille. "You'll get some eventually, my little virginal kitten."

Magnus shoved playfully at her shoulder, saved a reply as the late bell rang and the teacher walked into the class.

Unfortunately for Magnus and Camille their Literature teacher was old Mrs. Imogen. She was the meanest of all teachers and no matter how well you behaved, she was always yelling. "Silence! Find the Literature book under your seat and open it to page four thirty one. We will waste no time!"

Forty five minutes and two lame chapters later, the bell rang, releasing the dynamic duo from their confining class.

They walked together to their lockers, silently thanking the alphabetic system, which were right next to each other. "What class do you have next?" Camille asked, freshening her lipstick in the mirror on her locker door.

Magnus didn't even bother opening his locker, knowing that he didn't have any more of his books yet. "Uh," he pulled out his schedule, reading it with his brows drawn. "Yearbook and Journalism," he said.

"Ugh," Camille moaned. "I have gym."

Magnus looked sympathetic, "Good luck with that." Neither one of them was any good at sports or enjoyed doing any sort of physical activity.

"I'll need it," she grumbled, turning around and walking reluctantly to the gym.

Magnus turned back towards the other side of the hallway, thanking his lucky stars that Yearbook and Journalism was only a few doors down. He slipped into the class quietly, taking a seat near the back. The teacher for this class, Mrs. Garroway, had long golden red hair pulled back into a low pony tail. She doubled as the art teacher, so she always had paint on her fingers. Magnus had taken a few of her art classes in previous years and found that he really liked her. In fact, she was the one that had convinced him to take this class in the first place.

As the bell rang, Magnus looked around and saw there were only four other people in the class. One, a girl with short pink hair and a nose ring. Two, a tall lanky boy with blonde hair. Three, a girl with long platinum blonde hair and obviously fake boobs. And four, a girl with curly brown hair and cargo pants. Magnus sighed in relief; Maia. At least he had someone to talk to. He quickly moved seats to sit by her, feeling even more relief when she smiled at him.

"Thank God, Magnus. I thought I was going to have to endure this class alone." Magnus just smiled at Maia, turning his attention to Mrs. Garroway as she began to speak.

"You're probably wondering why this class is so small. Well, technically this is supposed to be my planning period without students, but we are running short on staff this year, so I took up the class on the condition that I only had a few students." She moved to lean against her desk, a red strand of hair falling in her delicate face. "All of you have had me before, so you know my basic rules. Basically, this class will be us all roaming the halls and taking pictures of different things for the yearbook. Occasionally, I will pull you out of another class to add variety to our yearbook, and you might have to go to after school events and take pictures as your homework. If your homelife does not permit this, just talk to me in private and we can work something out. The school provides four camera's and one recorder. I will handle the recorder until you prove you can be responsible with the regular camera's. So for now, one of you will just have to tag along with someone."

Maia and Magnus gave each other a knowing glance. No one else in the class seemed to know each other, so they knew they could stay together.

"Today's assignment will be worth twenty points," Mrs. Garroway said pleasantly. Though it seemed like she often droned on, she was a very good teacher and a very lovely lady. "I want you all to divide up the classrooms and make sure we get a first day picture of every teacher." She turned to the box on her desk and started distributing cameras. Everyone got one except Maia, which had been expected. "Mark," she said turning to the blonde boy, "Which wing do you want?"

"I'll take the freshman hallway," he said. His response made their teacher smile. Usually seniors such as himself avoided that hallway like the plague, but Mark had siblings in that grade so he was more than willing to pay them a visit.

"Wonderful! Magnus, where do you want to go?"

Magnus smiled instantly, "I want the advanced courses hallway," he said, thinking about going back into Mr. Lightwood's class eagerly.

"Great," she said. She finished assigning the wings to the other students, making the girl with pink hair do the sophomore and junior wings because they were so small, before releasing them into the hallways. "Bring the camera's back before you go to your next class. We will review the photos tomorrow."

Magnus and Maia began their long walk, Maia struggling to keep up with Magnus' long legged stride.

"What's the rush, Magnus?" she asked.

Magnus blushed again, "I want to get all our pictures done," he lied. He could care less about the pictures; he just wanted to be close to Mr. Lightwood again.

"I don't know, Magnus. You were pretty quick to say you wanted the advanced courses hallway. I think you have someone specific in mind." Due to the fact that Maia and Camille had been dating for almost a year, Maia was able to tell when Magnus was lying.

Magnus sighed, relenting, "Promise not to tell anyone?" he asked, holding out his pinkie finger in a childish way.

Maia linked her own finger, "I promise."

Taking a shaky breath, Magnus slowed down and whispered into her ear, "I have a ridiculous crush on my new science teacher."

Maia smiled her 'sweet and satisfied' smile, as Camille called it, "That is adorable. We should get all of the other pictures first, so we can spend the leftover class time in his class."

Magnus agreed almost aggressively, and they were on their way. Each class only took about five minutes, leaving fifteen minutes they could waste in Mr. Lightwood's class.

"Are you ready to go in?" Maia asked, both of them standing a few feet away from his door.

"Not yet. How's my hair?" he asked, the camera strap around his neck so he didn't have to hold the camera.

"Fabulous."

"My makeup?"

"Flawless."

"My clothes?"

"Magnus, you look fine," Maia said, walking ahead of him and knocking on the door before he could stop her. He looked halfway between 'I'm going to kill you,' and 'oh God I'm so nervous.'

Mr. Lightwood opened the door a second later, his large blue eyes shining with curiosity. "What's up?" he said casually, making Magnus' heart flutter. When he talked so casually, Magnus couldn't help but feel like they were not a teacher and a student, but rather just friends.

"We, uh, need to take pictures for the yearbook, and if you're not t-too busy in your class, we were wondering if we could sit in," Magnus said, praying that he didn't sound as awkward as he felt.

Mr. Lightwood seemed to perk up when he realized who it was standing next to the girl who knocked on his door. Magnus thought he imagined it, but his teacher smiled, making him think that he might not have imagined it, "Of course, Magnus. Come on in." He stepped aside, holding the door for Magnus and Maia.

Magnus stepped to the back of the classroom, watching as Mr. Lightwood sat on top of his desk, just like he did in his first period. "Where were we?" he asked, glancing around the classroom. He drew his brows together, tapping his long pale fingers on his delectable lips as he tried to find his train of thought. "Oh, right," he said, his eyes lighting up with recognition, "Friday will just be a catch up day if you missed or don't finish the bookwork." Mr. Lightwood continued to talk about his class schedule while Magnus took a picture of him. When looking at the shot, he smiled, seeing that Mr. Lightwood's fingers had been tapping absent mindedly on his thigh. Magnus handed Maia the camera, allowing her to take pictures of the entire class.

Despite how hard Magnus tried, all he could do was stare at the teacher. Mr. Lightwood seemed to have picked up on this, because every time he looked to the back of the classroom, he smiled at Magnus. It was a smile that could have just been friendly, but the way it made Magnus feel was anything but friendly. He swore his teacher was doing it just to fluster him. If that was his goal, he was certainly succeeding.

"Okay, we have about five minutes left," he said, "You can just talk amongst yourselves."

Magnus turned his gaze away from his teacher finally. "Maia, do you think we have enough?"

"Yeah, we should be good. I should maybe take a few more of just the students laughing and stuff," she said, moving to the side of the classroom while Magnus resided in the back, leaning against the lab station counter.

His eyes focused on Mr. Lightwood when he slid off of the top of his desk and began walking towards him. He glanced over at Maia, who gave him a smirk, making a crude gesture with her hand and her mouth. This, of course, caused Magnus to blush a very dark red color and made him very flustered.

"Hey, Magnus," he said, leaning on the counter next to him. His body was so close Magnus could feel the heat radiating off of him.

"Hmm?" was all Magnus was sure he could muster without sounding too pathetic.

"How's your first day going?" Mr. Lightwood was looking down at his feet the whole time he was talking, but Magnus was still watching his face intently. The way his lips formed words was as enticing as it was important. When he finished talking, he looked up for Magnus' answer, his eyes serious and his brows lifted ever so slightly. In the fluorescent light, Magnus could see that he was definitely in need of a shave, but at the same time, the shadow of a beard was incredibly sexy.

"Uh," Magnus realized he had just been staring for a long moment, "Good." He blushed horribly, wishing he could remember more adjectives.

"Great," Mr. Lightwood said, flashing him the most illuminating smile. "Are you excited about biology?" He asked, showing an enthusiasm for the subject that made Magnus' heart swell.

Magnus nodded, "Yeah, it should be good," he said. Blushing horribly because he still couldn't think of an adjective better than good.

"I hope so," Mr. Lightwood smiled at him. "We are going to have a lot of fun with the labs."

"Good," Magnus said, mentally slapping himself in the face. Seriously, he needed to stop with the 'goods'.

"Hopefully I won't have too much trouble with partnering," Mr. Lightwood said, almost to himself as his midnight hair fell haphazardly into his eyes. Magnus' fingers twitched to sweep it out of his face, but he refrained as Maia walked up.

"Okay, Maggie, I got what we need," she said, scrolling through the pictures on the camera.

"Maia," Magnus hissed at his silly nickname. He flushed a dark crimson, glaring at Camille's girlfriend.

Mr. Lightwood chuckled, having heard Magnus' reprimand. Oh God, Magnus thought, he can tell that I have a crush on him. He probably thinks I'm pathetic.

Maia rolled her eyes, "Come on, we should get back to Mrs. Garroway." She turned her attention to the teacher, "Thank you for letting us take the pictures."

"Not a problem," Mr. Lightwood said, amusement clearly in his eyes and his voice. "Nice to meet you, Maia. I'll see you tomorrow in class, Magnus," he said, chuckling a little at the end. Magnus hoped it's because he remembered a funny joke and not because of his stupid nickname. That wasn't likely though.

Magnus blushed deeply, grabbing Maia's hand and dragging her out of the class before she could further embarrass him.

"I have never been so mortified in my entire life," Magnus groaned as they made their way down the hallway.

Maia rolled her eyes again, "I'm sorry for ruining your relationship that never would have happened in the first place," she said sarcastically.

Magnus frowned at her as they returned into class. Instead of telling her to stop being a sarcastic twit, he clenched his teeth and ignored her until the bell rang, dismissing them.

The rest of the day was a blur of avoiding Maia's and Camille's sappy romantic talk at lunch, trying to stay awake during history, zoning out with thoughts of blue eyes in study hall, and nearly missing the bus because Magnus stopped to watch Mr. Lightwood pick up a pencil he dropped a few feet down the hallway. By the time he was at home, he was mentally and physically exhausted. Starting back at school was always tiring, but this was worse than usual.

"Magpie?" Magnus' mother said when he flopped face down onto the sofa. "How was school?" She sat down next to him, running her fingers through his hair gently.

Magnus' muffled reply was barely decipherable, "Embarrassing."

"What happened, baby?" she asked, concern in her comforting voice.

Magnus turned his head to the side so that he was no longer talking into the cushions, "It wasn't that bad," he said. Though he usually told his mother everything, he didn't think she would approve of his crush on Mr. Lightwood. That he would just have to keep between himself and Camille and Maia. "I just almost missed the bus, and I dropped my books in the hallway, and my locker wouldn't open, and I was late to first period. It was just a long day. I'm sure tomorrow will be better," he said, tossing a half-hearted smile up at his mother.

"That's my boy," she said proudly, "always being optimistic."

All Magnus could think was that if every day this year was going to be so stressful, he was not going to make it to the end.

Sorry if this ended kind of abruptly. I've been writing it for a couple of days and I only just realized how long it's gotten. I don't promise that all chapters will be this long. Anyway! Please review/follow/favorite if you want more! :)


	2. Chapter 2

Alec balanced the phone between his ear and his shoulder as he stirred the pot of macaroni and cheese on the stove. "Jace, can't you wait to bring in your essay to Professor Stark after you drop Rafael and Max off at the kindergarten and daycare?" he asked exasperated. He was late for his first day on the job because Jace flaked out on taking the kids to school, and he did not want that to happen again.

"He said that it's due at 7:45, Alec. If I turn in one more late assignment, I'm going to fail the class and lose my scholarship."

Alec quit stirring the macaroni and pinched the bridge of his nose, willing away a headache that was bound to come. He could hear Max and Rafael arguing in the other room, their voices approaching screams. "Fine. Do you think Iz can take them?" he asked, the oven timer going off. He grabbed an oven mitt, taking out the homemade chicken strips.

"I think she's got class at seven."

"God damnit," Alec said, not only because he needed someone to drive his kids to school, but also because he had burned his wrist on the pan that just came from the oven. Another timer rang, signalling that his steamed vegetables were ready. "Is Mom in town?" he asked desperately as he turned off the burner for the vegetables and turned his attention back to the macaroni. Max started making a noise between a screech and a sob in the other room that was followed by a loud thump. "Shit," he said, making sure all of the burners and the oven were off before walking into the living room. "I'll have to call you back, Max and Rafael are fighting." Without waiting for Jace to respond, Alec hung up the phone, tossing it onto the nearest table.

Rafael threw a toy car at his brother, yelling nonsense. Max started sobbing louder when the car hit him, his blue eyes turning red around the corners.

"Rafael," Alec said firmly, stepping between his sons. "You do not throw thing in this house under any circumstance. Especially not at your brother. Do you understand me?"

Rafael's cheeks flared a dark scarlet and he looked up indignantly. He was close to tears and his pout was a prominent Lightwood feature that he had passed on to him. "But he won't play with me." he crossed his arms glaring at his brother.

Alec turned to Max whose tears had subsided. "He hogs!" he said defensively, pointing a small finger at Rafael.

"You hogged all of them!" Rafael said back.

"Rafael, you have to share, and Max, if he's not sharing, ask nicely or come to me," Alec said, feeling only slightly guilty when Rafael looked like he was going to cry again. "Now, I want you two to hug and say you're sorry."

Both boys reluctantly hugged and apologized.

"Okay, both of you have five minutes in a corner and no one gets dessert tonight," he said, pointing them to their designated corners.

"But-" Rafael said. He was always the one to argue.

"No buts or you will have ten minutes."

He pouted but went to the corner anyway.

Alec went back into the kitchen to finish making dinner. He called Jace again as he was putting scoops of food onto plates.

"Hello?"

"I'm back," he said. "Anyway, is Mom in town?" He set the table, praying that his mother was in town.

"No. She's in Houston on business until Thursday."

Alec sighed heavily. "Is there really no way that you can take them?" he begged.

Jace hesitated, "If you can take them with you to the school, I can pick them up at eight after I drop off my paper."

"Okay," Alec said in relief. "Class starts at eight fifteen, so if you are there by eight that should work perfectly. Thank you so much, Jace."

"No problem. I know you have a lot of stress right now, so let me know if you need anything else."

"Will do," Alec said as he poured juice into three different cups. "See you tomorrow."

Alec barely heard Jace's goodbye. He had so much on his mind. By tomorrow morning, he needed to have all of his lesson plans for the week and send a copy of his student rosters to the administrative office. That, of course, was easier said than done.

"Max and Rafael, come get washed up for dinner!" he called, pulling the step stool in front of the sink with his foot as he washed his hands.

The boys quickly cleaned up and sat down in their chairs at the table.

"You're coming with me to work in the morning and Uncle Jace will take you to school from there," he informed them.

"Why can't we stay with you at work?" Rafael asked, his black hair falling into his eyes. Alec briefly thought that he needed to cut it.

"Because it's my job, and my boss wouldn't like it very much if I was distracted by two adorable little boys all day," he said, loving the cute face Rafael made.

"No adorbable! Brave!" Max said, holding up his fork like a cross bow. He had been watching Brave earlier that evening and had informed his father that he wanted to be just like Merida.

"Who says you can't be both?" Alec said, "Now be brave and eat your vegetables before they get cold."

"Okay," Max saluted, stabbing a piece of broccoli and shoving it in his mouth.

Dinner ended not long after, and Alec began their nightly routine. He washed the dishes while the boys went to their room. It only took a few minutes to finish cleaning the kitchen before he joined his kids.

"Rafael, go brush your teeth while Max puts on his pajamas," he instructed as he found a red set of pajamas for Max and a green set for Rafael in the dresser. Rafael went down the hallway to the bathroom, his feet pattering the whole way.

Alec sat down on the edge of Max's bed and helped him into his pajamas, "Are you excited for another day of daycare?" he asked when Max ran to put his dirty clothes into the hamper.

"No," Max said, his large blue eyes turning suddenly dark.

"Why not?" Alec asked, turning on the color changing tiger night light.

Max looked angry, "Rafe's not there," he said begrudgingly.

"No, but you can still have fun. Aren't there lots of other boys you can play with?"

"They color. I want cars."

Alec picked Max up, putting him on his lap, "No one plays cars?"

Max shook his head sadly.

"You should ask one of the boys to play cars with you."

"Okay, Daddy," Max said as Rafael came back into the room.

"Okay," Alec said, planting a kiss on the top of his head and putting him back on the ground, "your turn to brush your teeth." Max's little legs carried him out of the room at a surprisingly fast pace.

Alec followed him, making sure he brushed his teeth thoroughly while Rafael got dress in their bedroom. Alec and Max returned a minute later, Rafael already lying in his bed.

"Story?" Max asked as Alec tucked them both in.

"Sure," Alec said, looking through the books on the shelf. "Do we want Hop on Pop or Green Eggs and Ham?"

"Hop on Pop!" Max said. That was his favorite story. Rafael also like it, so he paid attention.

Alec read the story, kissing the boys once more before going into his office to get his work done.

By ten o'clock, his rosters were sent and three quarters of his lesson plans were made. It wasn't mandatory that he have his lesson plans done, but the rest of his week was going to be full of setting up lab equipment after school while his kids sat in his classroom so he wanted to have as much done as possible. By midnight, he had the next three weeks planned and ready to go. Feeling accomplished, Alec went to bed and set his alarm for five o'clock in the morning.

When the alarm rang the next morning, Alec groaned, hitting the snooze button and rolling over for five more minutes of sleep. Though he hated to admit it, he was not at all a morning person. Before the next alarm could go off, Max crawled onto his bed and began jumping up and down.

"Get up! Get up! Get up!" he yelled, his feet nearly landing on Alec's forehead.

Rafael crawled onto the bed a moment later, joining the fun and jumping up and down as well.

"I'm up! I'm up! I'm up!" Alec said, turning off his alarm before it sounded again and sitting up as his sons kept jumping next to him.

"Daddy, hurry!" Max yelled, his thick unruly hair bouncing as he jumped.

"What's the rush?" Alec asked, extracting himself from the bed.

"We wanna play at work!" Rafael said, landing on his butt on the bed and hopping off to run to Alec's closet.

Alec followed his son to the closet, sifting through his various discount shirts and five year old pants. He settled on a pair of black slacks and a long sleeved maroon shirt. He set them down on the bed, before picking up both of his sons.

"You can't play at work!" Alec said jokingly, watching both of his boys' faces turn to worried looks.

"Why?" Max asked.

"Well, because it wouldn't be work anymore, it would be play," Alec said as he made his way to the bathroom to start their baths. "Now, get undressed so we can get you all clean for day care." Alec turned on the water to a nice temperature, and left the boys in the bathroom while he went to the kitchen to start breakfast. Because he really didn't feel like cooking, he opted for canned cinnamon rolls. By the time he had returned to the bathroom, Rafael was in the tub with a large mountain of bubbles. Max on the other hand still had his pajamas on, and he was sitting on the closed lid of the toilet.

"Max, I told you to get undressed," Alec scolded as he turned off the water and handed Rafael a washcloth with soap on it.

"No bath!" Max yelled, with a pout.

"Well, why not?" Alec asked, sitting down on the step stool between the tub and the toilet.

"I want germs."

"No, you don't. Germs are bad for you. They make you sick. Now get undressed, and get cleaned up."

"Daddy," Rafael said, "I'm clean all by myself!" he said proudly.

"That's great, Rafael. Because you did so good this morning, you get a cinnamon roll with extra frosting."

Rafael clapped his hands excitedly, then climbed out of the tub. Alec grabbed a towel from the linen closet on the other side of the tub and handed it to Rafael.

Max sat stubbornly on the toilet seat. "I want frosting," he said somberly.

"You have to be clean to get extra frosting," Alec said, helping Rafael dry his hair with the towel.

"But Daddy!" Max whined.

"No buts. It is not debatable," Alec said, walking with Rafael back into the bedroom to get dressed.

"Daddy, what does not debdable mean?" he asked.

Alec grabbed an outfit out of Rafael's drawer, handing it to him. "It means you can't argue about it. It is set in stone."

In the distance, Alec heard the kitchen timer go off. "Will you get dressed and help Max bathe?"

"Yes!" Rafael said, excitedly.

"Good, I'm going to frost your cinnamon roll." As Alec walked down the hall, he saw Max still sitting on the toilet. "Max, if you don't get clean, you will be eating brussel sprouts for breakfast."

Max still didn't move, but Alec didn't want their breakfast to burn, so he went to the kitchen. A quick glance at the clock told him that it was only six fifteen, so he still had time to shower and get ready.

He pulled the cinnamon rolls out of the oven, quickly frosting them before they cooled down. He made sure to put a little extra frosting on Rafael's before leaving them to cool down.

Rafael ran into the kitchen, already dressed for the day, "Max won't listen to me."

"Okay, just sit at the table and I'll get you breakfast," Alec said, putting the cinnamon rolls on plates.

Max walked into the kitchen, still in his pajamas. He sat down at the table, waiting for his own breakfast.

Alec quickly sliced an orange and poured two glasses of milk. He gave Rafael the fruit, and the cinnamon roll with a glass of milk, but he pulled fresh brussel sprouts out of the fridge and gave them to Max with a glass of water. When Rafael saw this, he began to laugh.

"Rafael, be nice," Alec warned.

"Sorry, Daddy," he said, taking a huge bite out of his breakfast.

Max on the other hand found no amusement in this; he burst into tears.

"Max, you'll still get a cinnamon roll if you get in the bath in the next five minutes," Alec said. He quickly ate his own breakfast, before going to the cabinet and getting out the vitamins.

Max refused to move, tears staining his face. Alec gave the gummy vitamins to both of his sons, but Max refused it.

"Four minutes," Alec said. Max finally caved, stomping away to the bathroom. Alec followed, telling Rafael to put his dish in the sink and wash his hands when he was done with breakfast.

Alec sat on the step stool again, watching to make sure Max got clean. "Ears," he instructed when Max tried to get out. He huffed and cleaned his ears with a frown on his face.

"I hate baths."

"You have to be clean though," Alec said. "Feet," he commanded before Max could try to get out again. Finally, his son was completely clean and dry. He led him into the bedroom and helped him get dressed before letting him have breakfast.

"Daddy, can I watch cartoons?" Rafael asked, cupping his hands together in a plead.

"Sure, but only a half hour. After that, we have to go to Daddy's work. Max, wash your hands and put up your dish when you are done with breakfast."

Alec quickly gathered his outfit for work and showered in the only bathroom in the apartment. The moment he looked in the mirror, he noticed how shaggy his hair had become and how desperate he was for a shave. Time would not permit a shave, however, seeing as he only had ten minutes to dry his hair and gather his things. Sighing, Alec resigned to the idea that he would have to wait another day. He hurried to dry his hair, and put on his cologne, but as he glanced at the clock in the hall, he noticed he was running a little late.

"Let's hurry up and put on our shoes!" he called to his children as he pulled on his own Doc Martens. Max and Rafael scuttled to the shoe rack by the door, pulling on matching pairs of sandals.

"What about our lunches?" Rafael asked.

"Shit," Alec said under his breath so they wouldn't hear. "Daddy forgot to pack lunches. Have Uncle Jace buy you lunch before he takes you to school. Tell him Daddy will pay him back at the end of the month."

Now rushing, Alec went to grab his briefcase with his lesson plans and rosters while turning off all of the lights in the apartment, turning off the television, and double checking to make sure there were no faucets or electrical appliances on. He couldn't afford to go over on his monthly bills again.

"Grab your backpacks and hurry. Daddy's going to be late again," he sighed, trying to find his keys and cell phone.

Max and Rafael didn't even try to resist his instructions, knowing his tone of voice was serious. No matter what, Alec could never get anywhere on time. It was something he was always trying to correct, but never fixing.

At long last, Alec made it out the door with his two boys. They all got buckled into Alec's 1998 Honda Civic, and made their way to the school. Despite telling Jace to be there at eight, Alec barely got into his classroom by eight ten.

"Daddy, where are the students?" Rafael asked as Alec finally relaxed and began writing the day's lesson on the board.

"They are outside getting ready for class. It doesn't start for another five minutes." Alec explained as he drew a diagram of a plant cell.

"Can I draw on the board, Daddy?" Rafael asked with puppy dog eyes.

"Me too! Me too!" Max said, running up to the board.

"Okay, but you have to stay inside of this box," Alec said, drawing a large box off to the left side of the board. "Promise?" he asked, sliding the boxes of textbooks over so they could stand on them and reach the board.

"We promise," they said in unison. Alec handed them each a marker as the first bell rang. He expected Jace would be late, but he didn't expect class to start while his kids were still with him. He definitely did not want them around high schoolers.

Just as the thought passed through his head, the door opened, and his students started flowing in. All of them immediately saw the children, and sat down cautiously.

Alec picked up his phone and dialed Jace.

"Hello?"

"Jace, where are you? Class is starting, and Rafael has been late to kindergarten the first two days of class.""

"I'm still at the university. I barely turned in my paper on time, and now I'm running back to my car. I had to park in the middle of nowhere because apparently today is freshman move in day. Fucking freshies are everywhere, man. I can't get past them."

"When are you going to be here? I can't teach class and watch them," Alec said, exasperated. "You know I need this job. I can't get fired on my second day."

"Relax, man. I'm almost to my car. Once I make it out of the parking lot, I'm only twenty minutes away. Fifteen if there is no traffic."

"Just… Hurry, please."

"Okay, see you in a few."

The late bell rang, and Alec moved to close the door. "Sorry for the random children," he said, addressing the class. "My brother should be by in a few moments to take them."

Seeming to notice the others in the class, Rafael put down his marker and moved to stand behind his father. Max, on the other hand, did not appear to notice or care about the others.

"These are my sons Max and Rafael. Say hello, boys."

Max turned around waved sporadically with a big smile while Rafael just hid behind Alec's desk.

"Okay, let me just take roll and we will get started." Alec ran through the list as quickly as possible, smiling when Magnus raised his hand. There was something about that boy that made Alec want to talk to him. He was just so honest, but reserved. A quality that wasn't common in a lot of people. Not to mention his mysterious eyes. They held such intensities of color. "For each class, I have chosen a student to help me prepare for all of our labs and eventually roll taking. For this class, I chose Magnus." At the sound of his name, said teen shrunk down in his chair and looked down at his fingers. Alec's heart swelled a little at how modest he was being. "Next week, we will perform our first lab over cellular respiration with a follow up lab the next week on photosynthesis. When the time comes, I will assign partners and lab stations. For right now, we will start our briefing over the topics." Alec moved to the board where he wrote the two equations. "Can someone tell me which equation is for cellular respiration, and which is for photosynthesis?"

No one answered for a moment, and Alec began to doubt the advancement of this advanced biology class. However, a single honey tanned palm raised in the air and restore hope in him.

"Yes, Magnus."

"Uh. The first one is c-cellular respiration, and the other is photosynthesis," he said quietly.

"Excellent, and can you tell me how you knew that?" Alec asked, unconsciously licking his lips when Magnus bit his.

Magnus hesitantly explained, "The first equation yields oxygen, and the second yields carbon dioxide."

"You are absolutely correct. Very well done," Alec affirmed. As he was titling the equations, Max began to scribble outside of his box. "Max," Alec said quietly, "You promised you would stay in your box. Do you want a timeout?"

"Sorry, Daddy," he said with a pout.

Alec addressed the class again, "Can anyone tell me the relationship between these two processes?"

Once again, no one raised their hand but Magnus. Alec nodded to Magnus, motioning for him to answer. "Photosynthesis produces a sugar which is then used in c-cellular respiration in order to make ATP. The s-sugar is then broken down into carbon dioxide which is used again in, uhm, photosynthesis."

"Very well put. Each process is reliant on the other in most cases. In this first chapter, we will discuss both aerobic and anaerobic processes in plant cells. What are some examples of anaerobic processes?" Alec asked. He was mainly asking to gage how much his class knew, but deep down, he was also asking in hopes of hearing Magnus speak again. He was quite intelligent, and there was just something enticing about him.

Magnus hesitated before raising his hand again.

Rafael tugged on Alec's pant leg. He had been watching from under the desk, and had decided now was a good time to interrupt. "Daddy," he said quietly.

Alec crouched down, "What is it Rafael?"

"You should give the shiny boy extra frosting on his cinnamon roll. He's smart."

Alec couldn't help the laugh that erupted. "Yes, I should," he agreed before standing up again. He wasn't sure if his class heard his son or not, so he chose not to mention it. "Go ahead, Magnus."

"Cellular respiration and alcoholic fermentation," he said without making eye contact. He bit his lip after speaking, drawing all of Alec's attention to his plump lips once again.

"Great examples." Before he could speak any more, the intercom came on.

"Mr. Lightwood, you have a visitor. Is he clear to come to your room?" the secretary asked.

"Yes, thank you." Finally Jace was here, Alec thought, relieved.

"For today, I planned on lecturing, but it seems to me that you all need to write the definitions for this chapter." A collective groan rose from the students. "I will resume my lecture tomorrow, we will do our lesson on Thursday, and Friday we will review the terms and take a vocabulary quiz. Magnus, will you help me pass out textbooks?" Alec asked, lifting Max off the box and putting him in his tall desk chair.

Without answering, Magnus slowly moved to the front of the class. Alec instructed him to write the book number next to the student's name on his roll sheet. As soon as his instructions were finished, there was a knock at the door. Alec crossed the room, relieved to see Jace standing there.

"Finally," Alec chided.

"Sorry. I'm here now. Where are the kids?" Jace asked, pushing his way into Alec's classroom. "Whoa, you have a class?"

Alec pinched the bridge of his nose, "What do you think I meant when I said 'class starts at eight fifteen'?"

Max and Rafael spotted Jace and ran up to him. Both boys were very fond of their uncle despite how much he irritated Alec.

"Hey, chipmunks. Learning anything?" Jace said, picking both of them up.

"No way!" Max said.

"That's okay. I never learned anything in school either," Jace teased. "Let's get you to school so you can have fun."

Alec grabbed the boys' backpacks and Jace put them back on the ground. "Behave yourselves." Alec handed helped them put on the bags before addressing Jace again. "I forgot to pack their lunches. Can you stop and get them something?"

"Alec…" Jace began.

"Mr. Lightwood?" one of the girls in the back requested.

"Yes?"

"What page is the vocabulary on?"

Alec went to his desk and quickly found the page number in his lesson plans. He had written it down next to the vocabulary quiz day. "Page one ninety six." Knowing that not everyone was paying attention, he scribbled it on the board.

He noticed that Magnus had already passed out all of the books and was back in his seat. Alec had to give him credit; he was very diligent in his work.

Alec returned to his brother. "I'll pay you back at the end of the month. I know I owe you a lot," he said in nearly a whisper. Over the past few months, Alec had been working at a convenience store until he got the job as a teacher. Though he got plenty of hours, it was not enough to pay his bills and take care of his kids. He had to borrow the money Jace got back from his scholarships just to pay his rent. Luckily, his mother had taken the summer off from work and volunteered to watch the boys everyday. Now, though, she had returned to work, Jace had gone back to his classes, and Isabelle started her freshman year of college. Not only did he have to pay his bills, but now he also had to pay for the daycare for Max.

"I'll stop. Don't worry about it. Just pay me back when you can."

"Thanks, Jace."

"Alright, chipmunks," Jace said, getting the attention of the two boys running around them. "Give your dad a kiss and let's get going."

After first period ended, Alec's day went by smoothly. There were no major problems or fist fights, so he figured it was a pretty successful day. In the rest of his classes, no one knew the answers to any of his questions. It made him wish Magnus was still sitting in the front row. Disregarding the thought, Alec packed up his belongings and vocabulary papers to grade. He made his way out to his car, praying that his life would settle down soon. For the past five years, it's felt like one hectic day after another with no end in sight.

Alec drove five miles across town in the heavy traffic, knowing that he was already ten minutes late to pick up his kids. Luckily, the daycare center was right next to the kindergarten. Alec dropped in and got Max first, carrying him on his hip and walking quickly down to Rafael's classroom.

"Mr. Lightwood," Rafael's teacher, Ms. Aline said the second he walked in the door. She was a young woman, probably in her thirties with long brown hair and soft features. Her voice was very soothing, and Alec briefly thought she was perfect for a kindergarten teacher. Especially with her colorful skirt and ribboned shirt.

"I'm sorry I'm late. I just got off of work and drove here as fast as I could."

"Rafael has been late to class two days now. If we were further into the semester, it wouldn't be that big of a deal."

"I know," Alec said, seeing Rafael get up from his seat and walk over to his father. "I'm sorry, it won't be like this all the time. Things are just a little crazy right now." Rafael was now standing right next to him, looking tired. Alec's hand gently ran through his hair, pushing it out of his face.

"May I suggest that he ride the bus?"

"I really would do that if I could, but I have to leave for work before it goes by and I can't leave him alone," Alec explained, hoping that Jace could just help him out a little more.

"I have no right telling you how to raise your children, but bad habits are instilled in them at a very young age."

Alec, slightly offended at this comment, took Rafael's hand. "I promise you he won't be late again."

"Very well," Ms. Aline said.

Alec took his kids back out to his car, trying not to let them see how exhausted he was. Once everyone was buckled in, he was on his way back across town to his two bedroom apartment. "How was daycare, Max?"

"We played cars!" He said excitedly.

"Oh, that sounds like fun," Alec said, carefully merging into a different lane. Before he had kids, he drove like a maniac, but he had more to take care of now. "What about you, Rafe? How was class?"

"Ms. A took time out of my recess because I was late," he grumbled.

Alec felt super guilty. It was his fault Rafael didn't get to class in time. He shouldn't be punished. "I'm sorry, Rafe. You won't be late again. I promise." Alec pulled out his cell phone, dialing Jace's number.

"Alec," he said as a greeting.

"Jace, listen, can you take the boys to school tomorrow? I know you have class at nine, but if you could just do this for me one more day…"

"Alec, I'm sorry, but I can't tomorrow. I have a meeting with my advisor that is mandatory."

Alec bit his lip, merging again and turning down the street towards his apartment complex. "Do you know anyone that can take them? There is no way I can make it from their school to mine in time for class."

"Why don't you just bring them earlier?" Jace asked, clearly feeling a little guilty about letting his brother down.

"The doors to daycare don't open until eight." Alec tried to think of any other person he could ask, but came up short. Jace was too busy with class, Maryse was working, Robert hadn't talked to Alec in years, and Isabelle was… Well Isabelle he could understand. She didn't want to spend too much time with Max because he was her son. No by Alec's doing, of course. Izzy had gotten pregnant in eleventh grade after her boyfriend got her drunk and took advantage of her. She didn't have the heart to abort the baby, but she couldn't handle the responsibility or the reminder. Alec, though he was a freshman in college already held down by a two year old, adopted the child at his birth and named him after their youngest brother who'd died in a car wreck seven years before. So yeah, he didn't really blame her for not being around.

"Look, man, I'm sorry, but I just can't do it."

"It's okay, Jace," Alec said, finally parallel parking next to the tall apartment building. "I'll talk to you later."

Alec sat for a minute with his forehead on his steering wheel, wondering what the hell he was going to do.

"Daddy, are you okay?" Rafael asked.

"I'm alright," Alec said with a fake smile. "Let's just get inside before Daddy has a meltdown," he muttered the last part under his breath, hoping that something would get better soon.

 **So thanks for reading! Drop a review and tell me what you think! I couldn't resist Rafael and Max they're adorable! Hope you liked it!**


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